Police brutality is the wanton use of excessive force, usually physical, but potentially in the form of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by a police officer. Widespread police brutality exists in many countries, even those that prosecute it. It is one of several forms of police misconduct, which include: false arrest, intimidation, racial profiling, political repression, surveillance abuse, sexual abuse and police corruption.

Cathy Copeland simply wanted to clean the washrooms in the church before Saturday's sermon.

She never imagined a small detour would result in being confronted by three Ministry of Natural Resources officials, an OPP officer and a $155 ticket.

Copeland, who turns 70 in June, and her husband Sid, 70, who is disabled, went to St. Gabriel Catholic Church in Rondeau Provincial Park early last Friday evening. The couple were confronted with two deep pools of water where they would normally drive up to the church doors.

“He (Sid) can walk from there up to the church and normally that's what we would do,” said Copeland. “But we were carrying a vacuum cleaner and mops and buckets and stuff like that so we couldn't do that.”

Mr. Copeland uses a walker and a cane, he also suffers from Alzheimer disease.

Instead, she took a detour through some tall prairie grass along a pathway parishioners had used for about 50 years before they were asked to stop several years ago.

Moments after the couple entered the church, Copeland heard voices outside and went to investigate.

She came face-to-face with two MNR officers.

One officer said Copeland had driven over protected dune and tall grass prairie and a snake habitat.

Explaining her husband's mobility issues, the impassable water and the history of the pathway, Copeland apologized and said it wouldn't happen again.

She went to resume her cleaning, but was told the officers weren't done. She gave them her name and address and an officer made a call on her radio, said Copeland.

“Within minutes, the OPP cruiser arrived here with the lights flashing and Mr. (Richard) Post in his flak jacket got out of the cruiser,” she said.

She reiterated her reasons to Post, the park superintendent, and said, “I'm really sorry it won't happen again. And he says, 'Well that's not good enough'.”

Copeland's chin begins to tremble and her eyes well up.

“I was really afraid, I really thought I was going to get taken into custody,” she said, her voice breaking. “I've heard this happening to other people, but I didn't realize how traumatic it was for them until now.”

She was referring to complaints by other cottagers and park-goers who have had confrontational encounters with Post in recent years.

Copeland was told her she could finish cleaning but when she and her husband went to leave she was stopped.

“I don't know if they were deciding if I was going to get taken into custody,” she said. “Or whether they were going to give me a warning, or deciding if I was going to have a ticket or what.”

At approximately 9 p.m., Copeland received $155 ticket for driving off-road and directed her to drive out over the tall grass prairie to get out.

Copeland, who has been a cottager at the park since 1979, said she was shocked, not just at the ticket but the show of force.

“There's all kinds of things going on in the park, I'm cleaning the church,” she said. “ Was that really necessary for them to spend three hours, a police cruiser, an OPP officer and three MNR officers?”

Copeland will be fighting the ticket as well as sending an email detailing the incident to John Salo, direct supervisor of Post and the MNR officers, the Minister of Natural Resources and Chatham-Kent Essex MPP Rick Nicholls asking for the ticket to be rescinded and an apology to be issued.

The Chatham Daily News stopped to speak to Post at the park.

He declined to comment directly on the details of the incident.

“We can confirm there's a ticket before the courts,” said Post. “We don't talk about the circumstances of what happened because that's up to a judge to talk about.”

Jolanta Kowalski, senior media relations officer for the Ministry of Natural Resources also declined to comment on the occurrence other than to issue the following statement in an email.

“The Ministry of Natural Resources remains committed to working with Rondeau Park visitors in our ongoing efforts to protect the rare ecosystems and endangered species in this park.”

I hope that the charge against Mrs. Copeland will either be dismissed or at the very least Mrs. Copeland will beat the charge in court. Unfortunately, nothing will be done to hold the OPP officer accountable for failing to uphold the oath he must have presumably given to serve people of Ontario as opposed to harass and oppress them in pursuit of collecting stats.

The Oath or Affirmation of Office that is taken by a police officer, special constable or First Nations Constable in the province of Ontario is one of the following two forms:

I solemnly swear (affirm) that I will be loyal to Her Majesty the Queen and to Canada, and that I will uphold the Constitution of Canada and that I will, to the best of my ability, preserve the peace, prevent offences and discharge my other duties as (insert name of office) faithfully, impartially and according to law.So help me God. (Omit this line in an affirmation.)

OR

I solemnly swear (affirm) that I will be loyal to Canada, and that I will uphold the Constitution of Canada and that I will, to the best of my ability, preserve the peace, prevent offences and discharge my other duties as (insert name of office) faithfully, impartially and according to law.So help me God. (Omit this line in an affirmation.)

Let us take a closer look at the Oath:

“I will be loyal to Her Majesty the Queen and to Canada” or “I will be loyal to Canada”

Which Queen are they taking the oath to? The one who swore an oath to uphold the law as per the King James Version of the Bible (KJV Bible), or the one who is the personification of the Crown and at the apex of the legal and political systems?

Big difference as one is law and one is legal. Legal is not law. Legal comes from legislative policy and is given the colour and force of law, but it is not law. Legal is like law, similar to but not. Legal is corporate policy.

“I will, to the best of my ability”

Is this useful as an excuse? Could a police officer say something to the effect of, “I was just doing my job to the best of my ability and did not realize that what I was doing was actually unlawful”?

“preserve the peace, prevent offences“

When a police officer issues a Provincial Offence Notice for a minor traffic infraction or for any other victim-less “crime” for that sake does he/she actually attempt to preserve the peace? Does the officer try to prevent an offence or just does their job to the best of their ability?

“offence”

Offence is an odd word as it shows in the editor as a wrong spelled word. Offence is not the same as offense. It is like Legal and Law. Offense is a law word (cause harm). Offence is like offense, similar to, like but not. Offense is in the realm of law and offence is in the world of legal. Law is law and legal is corporate fiction.

“according to law”

The most important phrase in the oath, “according to law”. The OPP is a corporation as is Canada as is the Crown. They are in the legal realm which has nothing to do with the law. Remember legal is like, similar to but not law. Legal is corporate policy.

Therefore, the OPP are policy enforcers for various crown corporations and private companies that benefit from legislated policy.

The Provincial Offence Notices that are issued to you by OPP officers are not for offenses since you cause no harm. They are for offences, which are nothing more than revenue streams for the corporation. This is not law. It is theft of your property. Theft causes harm and is against the law.

Hence, the ticket issued to Mrs. Copeland was not for an offense since she caused no harm to anyone by driving through some tall prairie grass, but it was rather simply a theft of her property and caused her harm!

“So help me God”

The Queen took an oath to uphold the law as per the KJV Bible and so should have all OPP members. Law appears over 500 times in the KJV. Legal appears 0 times in the KJV.

A message to the Ontario Provincial Police officers:

Ladies and gentlemen of the OPP you have a choice to make. Law or legal. Legal harms people by removing or restricting their lawful rights given them by their and your creator and that is against the law.

Be aware, when a man or a woman has caused no harm, you have no authority or lawful right to interfere in their lives. Please note that a driver’s license is a legal fiction and is not the property of the man or woman you pull over on the side of the road.

Please govern yourselves lawfully or you may find yourself held privately liable for any harm you cause the good people of the province of Ontario.